


talking at midnight

by yellowmarshmallow



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: 1970s, Artist Sirius Black, Bisexual Remus Lupin, Gay Sirius Black, House Party, M/M, Marauders, Marauders Era (Harry Potter), Marauders Friendship (Harry Potter), Mentions of homophobia, Remus Lupin & Lily Evans Potter Friendship, Sirius Black & James Potter Friendship, Strangers to Lovers, jily, remus and sirius love queen, remus is a book nerd and sirius is slightly punk, wolfstar
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-29
Updated: 2020-07-29
Packaged: 2021-03-05 23:28:19
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,550
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25593541
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yellowmarshmallow/pseuds/yellowmarshmallow
Summary: In the Summer of 1978, Sirius get's bored at a house party and wanders into the back garden to find a mysterious, book loving stranger. Forcing the stranger into a conversation, Sirius begins to discover that he rather likes talking to him.
Relationships: Sirius Black/Remus Lupin
Comments: 9
Kudos: 98





	talking at midnight

The party had begun to get rather dull. Perhaps it was the fact it was almost midnight and the air had become stuffy and thick, almost unbreathable, or maybe it was just that he hadn’t found a single person to hold a decent conversation with. James had drifted off a few hours ago, the diligent host he was, to greet people he knew and despite it never being too difficult for Sirius to find someone to talk to, the perks of looking like a movie star 24/7, no one at this party wanted to have an actual conversation. They’d talk for a bit; Sirius would comment on the music or they’d ask what brought him to the party, but Sirius could tell that wasn’t why they started talking to him.

Sirius pushed his way through the crowd of people to the back of the house and slid open the double glass doors and sneaked away into the garden, away from the party. No one was outside, no one ever was at James’ parties. It wasn’t that they weren’t allowed into the garden, but closed doors have more authority than you would think. Don’t misunderstand though, Sirius loved James’ parties: the music, the people, the laughter. They were the opposite of the Galas he was forced to attend as a child – which only fuelled his enjoyment. However, he still needed the right company.

He took a deep breath and felt the cold air hit his entire body, making him shiver, but it was the reason he came outside so he embraced the cold. The music was blasting from the house, trying to be heard but it was muffled, though still loud enough that Sirius would make out what song it was, Killer Queen by Queen. 

Sighing in a mixture of frustration and relief, he gripped the wall of the balcony that overlooked the garden. It wasn’t the biggest, but when James and Sirius had been looking for a place to rent, they were more than delighted that somewhere with a garden was in their price range. It was full of life, trees and plants overflowed from the garden – Sirius had insisted on it. The trees were adorned with solar powered lanterns that glowed bright orange and illuminated the space, it made for interesting conversation at times as to how they managed to get these lights to the top of the trees – long story short, don’t let James or Sirius anywhere near a ladder. 

After a moment of standing out on the balcony, he was debating untying his hair. He was glad he’d tied it back for the party, he knew if he hadn’t it would have stuck to the back of his neck and he’d have constantly been messing with his hair out of frustration but the nightly breeze was chilly. Although his look wasn’t all about practicality; he had refused to remove his leather jacket as it was part of his charm. At least, that’s what he had told James when he began to berate Sirius in a way similar to that of a concerned mother. 

Leaning over the balcony slightly, his forearms resting on the top of the wall, he reached into his pocket for his lighter and his packet of cigarettes, only to have his attention stolen by a silhouette of someone sat by the outdoor table beneath one of the lanterns that hung low on the trees. Their elbows were resting on the table and, after squinting through the dark to see if he knew who they were, Sirius realised they were reading. And that he didn’t know who they were.

Desperate for someone to talk to that might actually be interesting, Sirius debated the pro’s and con’s of talking to this person: 

Pro: they might be interesting  
Con: they could want nothing to do with me  
Pro: I might make a friend  
Con: there is a possibility they will throw their book at me to get me to go away

Knowing he would most likely regret it later, he decided, ‘fuck it,’ and decided to talk to the boy reading underneath the tree. 

As he got closer, Sirius could see that the stranger was definitely taller than he was but it was difficult to see as they were slouched in front of the book, as if he would be transported into the fictional world if the book was closer to his face. The stranger has soft looking, light brown hair and a noticeable scar across his face which began at the top of his left eye and faded out around the corner of his mouth and it looked like a bad scratch mark from an animal. He was wearing an oversized sweater over a collared shirt and he was gripping the ends of the sleeves with his fingers. One handheld the book and the other was close to his mouth as he intermittently bit his thumb whilst he read. Sirius felt his heart skip a beat as he noticed the boy mouthing along to the words of Killer Queen and tapping his finger along the seam of the book in beat to the music.

‘God he’s pretty,’ Sirius thought to himself as he noticed the orange glow from the lanterns illuminate his features with a warmth, he thought, impossible to describe. ‘No Sirius, you don’t want to scare him off, do not stare at his beautiful face.’ 

The boy hadn’t noticed Sirius approach, even when he sat on the chair perpendicular to him or perhaps, he didn’t really mind, either was possible.

“Party that boring huh?” said Sirius, grinning as the boy jumped slightly at the presence if another human being. He quickly composed himself though and looked up from the novel he was reading. 

“It wasn’t my idea to attend,” he sighed, returned to what he was reading, sounding as if he would rather be anywhere other than this party. Sirius suspected that was probably true.

Sirius nodded, “It wasn’t mine either,” he said, earning and incredulous look from the brunet making Sirius smile. He knew he looked like the kind of guy who would do anything to be at a party. “So, what is it that’s more interesting than this party?” he asked, motioned to the book with his head.

The boy replied without looking up from his page, “Jane Eyre.”

“What’s it about?” asked Sirius, more and more intrigued by this boy with each passing moment.

The boy smiled slightly as he turned the page. “Nothing,” he replied, the song had now changed to All the Madmen by David Bowie.

Sirius raised an eyebrow, “so why read it?”

The stranger sighed at the realisation that Sirius was going to continue asking questions and folded the corner of the page he was currently reading. “Not every book had to have an exciting storyline, Sometimes, all it needs is interesting characters.”

Sirius was now hooked, eager to understand the thoughts in this boy’s mind. “What do you mean?”

“Some of the best novels are just about character interactions. How they interact with each other and their surroundings. Their mannerisms.” He shifted in his seat as he spoke, a small smile tugging at his lips. “Some are about seeing the world through the eyes of someone else, gaining their perspective and seeing other characters as they see them and then contemplating if that’s truly how the character is. You can read two books about the same city and love one version of the city but hate the other. Perspective and characters can make a book just as enjoyable as an extensive, thrilling plotline and I’ve begun to ramble, haven’t I?” He asked, the smile fading from his lips as he cringed inwardly.

“You were,” Sirius nodded. “But it’s the most interesting conversation I’ve had all night, so don’t let me stop you,” he grinned at the boy who chuckled and glanced up at the house. 

“It’s all rather dull isn’t it?” he chuckled, fiddling with the pages of his book. “Charlotte Bronte is amazing with characters.”

“Is that who wrote it?” Sirius asked, he had never really been one to read in his spare time.

The boy nodded, “it’s easier to see yourself in the protagonist if the protagonist is well written. I’ve yet to read a Charlotte Bronte book with a badly written protagonist.”

“I’ve yet to read a Charlotte Bronte book.” Sirius admitted, rubbing the back of his neck as the by tried his best not to look horrified at the concept.

“But she’s written so many classics!” he exclaimed, as Sirius shrugged. 

“I’m always open to suggestions,” Sirius grinned as the stranger’s eyes instantly lit up at the idea of sharing his love of literature with a stranger.

“Well, you need to read Jane Eyre, obviously,” he said as Sirius nodded in agreement.

“Obviously, yeah,” He repeated, earning a chuckle from the other boy.

“But the other two that I would definitely recommend are Villette and the Professor,” He listed, scrunching up his face as he tried to think if there were any others he would recommend.

“Does nothing happen in those too?” he asked with an amused grin as the boy rolled his eyes.

“Ah, that would be telling, you’d need to read them and find out.” He smirked as Sirius groaned.

“I’ll have to let you know what I think of them,” Sirius said calmly, despite his insides screaming at him to not make assumptions over the idea of them seeing each other again.

“I suppose you will.” The boy smiled at Sirius, his face a light shade of pink.  
Sirius decided to move the conversation along, “so what brings you here then, mysterious stranger?” Sirius flashed a grin that made the boy roll his eyes. He answered the question regardless.

“My friend didn’t want to come to the party alone.” 

“How gentlemanly of you,” Sirius teased.

“In reality, I was hoping to see her make a fool of herself in front of the guy she likes,” the stranger said with a small smile on his face at the idea. 

Sirius laughed at that, and when the boy raised an eyebrow to why that comment was so funny, Sirius said, “I’m not here for too dissimilar a reason actually, well, despite living here and not really having any other choice.” 

The stranger raised an eyebrow, “what brings you outside?”

“It’s difficult to pay attention to anything when you know that this mixtape was put together for him to impress the girl he’s been fawning over for months.” Sirius bit back his laughter as he remembered James sat in front of the record player asking Sirius if the song that was playing truly presented his love for her.

“And I was so happy when Killer Queen came on,” he groaned making Sirius smirk.

“Has a whole different meaning now doesn’t it?”

The other boy smiled, clearly trying his best not to laugh. “I guess we’re in the same boat then.”

“It could be worse,” Sirius said with a smirk. “You could be sat outside without my charming company. Then you’d only have Jane Eyre.”

The other smile, once again seemingly supressing a laugh. “I’ll have you know; Jane is excellent company.”

“Perhaps, but I’m clearly the superior option.”

“We’ll leave that open to debate for now.” The boy chuckled before no longer being able to supress his laughter, and Sirius felt his heart skip a beat. It was like listening to a song where you think you know how the melody will go but it goes the opposite was to where you expected. It was light and soft and warm and ethereal. 

“I’m Sirius by the way, I don’t think I ever told you my name.” He said, leaning back on his chair, his expression an effortless grin. 

“You didn’t,” He grinned. “Remus.” The no longer stranger said with a nod, resting an arm on the table.

“Well Remus, it’s a pleasure to meet you.” Sirius grinned as Remus’ face went slightly pink.

“Oh – er, yeah you too.” He stumbled for a response, making Sirius smile and grabbed his book, burying his face in its pages to avoid looking Sirius in the eye.

‘He is adorable,” Sirius thought to himself.

Suddenly, he got an itch in the back of his mind and remembered the other reason he had stepped outside. He sighed to himself and knew that if he didn’t scratch the itch soon, he would get extremely agitated. He just hoped Remus wouldn’t mind. He took out his lighter and turned away from Remus out of habit. James always hated it when Sirius smoked, but he hated it more if he blew the smoke anywhere near him. So, Sirius only did that to purposefully get a rise out of James.

He took a deep breath and felt the itch lessen. With another deep breath it was practically gone. 

“Smoking’s a bad habit you know.” Remus said quietly, turning the page of his book yet again.

Sirius sighed with a smile. “So I’ve been told.”

They sat in silence for a moment once more before Remus then said, “I tried it once, almost threw up. I couldn’t stop coughing.” He crinkled his nose at the memory and shivered, although that last part would have been from the cold.

Sirius laughed softly, “yeah it isn’t for everyone.” He watched the smoke from the cigarette twirl as it rose from the end. “I want to quit actually, but I never seem to be able to.”

“Throw your lighter away.” Remus said nonchalantly with a shrug. “You can’t smoke if you have nothing to light the cigarette with.”

Sirius laughed, “I suppose that would work.” He watched Remus’ hazel eyes dart down the page and wondered if he was reading the book, or merely glancing at the words. “I’m guessing we go to the same uni?”

“You go to uni?” Remus smirked with an eyebrow raised.

Sirius rolled his eyes. “I’ll decide not to take offence to that,” he chuckled. 

“What do you study?” Remus asked, curious.

“Modern art,” said Sirius proudly. He loved his subject dearly. He never thought of himself as the best artist, but he could never stop drawing over everything. He drew on his schoolbooks, his hands, his arms, his walls, his furniture. He drew so frequently that James insisted he apply to continue with art at university. He was apprehensive, unsure whether or not he was good enough to get an interview, never mind get accepted. He spent months on his portfolio, constantly asking James for his opinion before deciding he could have drawn a stick figure and James would have said it belonged in a museum. He almost cried when he got accepted. 

His parents would have been furious for him to take such an ‘unorthodox’ subject for further education if they had known, but he hadn’t seen them since he was 16. Maybe that was the real reason as to why he applied, he knew it would have pissed off his parents. 

“You’re an artist?” Remus asked. 

“Could you not tell by my leather jacket?” Sirius said, grinning at Remus who rolled his eyes. “Art is the only thing I’ve ever really liked doing and apparently I’m not half bad at it – although the opinions I’ve heard are probably biased. And learning about techniques, how they came about in modern artists, it’s pretty cool.”

Remus nodded with a look of understanding. 

“I’m going to take a guess that you study literature,” said Sirius, smugly. 

“No, hotel management,” Remus said with a neutral expression as Sirius tried his best not to look completely and utterly shocked. Then he grinned, “of course I study literature. You’ve already been subjected to one of my many ramblings.”

“I wouldn’t say I was subjected to it,” said Sirius. “More like I had the pleasant experience of listening to you talk.” Sirius leaned onto the table with his elbow as he said this and tried to contain a grin when he noticed that Remus had blushed slightly at the comment. 

As Remus opened his mouth to respond, the door to the house burst open and a boy with a head of jet black hair ran into the wall of the balcony, looking as if he was about to jump of the edge into the garden. His eyes scanned the garden quickly before he jumped at the sight of Sirius and shouted excitedly, “Oi Sirius! Mate! You won’t believe it!”

Sirius shook his head with a smile and stood up to face James. “What?” he yelled back.

“She actually showed up!” James yelled. From his tone of voice, you’d have thought he had believed it was more reasonable for a unicorn to have arrived at this party than this girl.

“So bloody talk to her you prat!” Sirius yelled back making Remus chuckle at Sirius’ change in demeanour in front of his friend. 

James considered this for a moment as Sirius looked at Remus, exasperated. Remus rolled his eyes at the two of them but had a bemused expression.

“What do I say?” He yelled back.

“Compliment her on her eyes!” He yelled, before muttering under his breath so only Remus could hear it, “it’s not like you haven’t shut up about them for months.” 

Remus began to laugh but quickly masked it with a cough which made Sirius look at him with a raised eyebrow. Remus shrugged, grinning. This interaction, however, made James realise that Sirius wasn’t alone in the garden.

“Who’s your friend?” he asked, clearly trying to figure out if he knew who Remus was.

“Someone who’s better company than you are!” Sirius replied with another grin as James dramatically placed a hand over his chest. 

“I’ve been gone for a few hours and you replace me? Git!” He sounded as if he’d found Sirius cheating on him.

“I’m sorry but, you can no longer be my best friend," he said, bringing his hadn up to his forehead. "I’ve just, met someone else.” Sirius replied, taking it in his stride. He was also being as over dramatic as possible.

Remus had no idea what was going on but found the exchange to be rather amusing.

“I’ll never be happy again,” James said back, pretending to wipe tears from his eyes. “Anyway, thanks for the chat, don’t catch a cold out here!”'

Sirius sniggered at James’ mother hen behaviour, “Just go talk to her already!”

James waved a frantic goodbye, closing the door behind him as he went back inside.  
“Honestly,” said Sirius. “He’s not shut up about her for months and he can’t think of a single thing to say to her? It’s always, ‘Honestly mate, her eyes, they’re like emeralds.’ Or ‘Her hair is as red as fir and it might be the most amazing hair I’ve ever seen, and that’s saying something because I’ve looked in a mirror.’” This made both of them chuckle. “If I have to hear one more thing about Lily bloody Evans, I’m going to kick him out, find a new roommate.” Sirius joked. 

Remus sat up suddenly, “Lily Evans?” he asked. “Your best friend wouldn’t happen to be James Potter would it?”

“Yeah, why do you – oh.” Sirius stopped when the realisation hit him. “OH,” he said again, this time starting to laugh at the coincidence, Remus laughed with him. 

“Fuck, they’re idiots.” Remus shook his head in disbelief, making Sirius laugh again. 

“But they’re out idiots sadly.” 

Remus grinned, “true.”

“God, he though she saw him as an insufferable git – which is very believable and understandable.” Sirius said, instinctively going to run his hand through his hair before he realised, he never let his hair down. 

“Oh, she did, still does half the time, believe me. I’ve heard her complain about his ‘perfect but punchable face’ every day for months,” Remus sighed with a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.

“Do not tell him Lily Evans said he has a perfect face; his ego is big enough as it is.” Sirius joked.

“I’d say your is too,” Remus smirked.

Sirius scoffed, “you’re just jealous of my inhumanly good looks and charm.” Sirius said, a grin gracing his features.

“And my point is proven,” said Remus, opening his book. 

“Don’t choose Jane over me,” Sirius pleaded, and when Remus smirked at Sirius’ reaction, he knew he’d lost Remus to the world of literature – at least until he managed to come up with a decent point of conversation. 

Deciding against watching Remus read (‘That would be creepy Sirius, don’t do that.’), he pulled his a5 sketchbook out of the inside pocket of his leather jacket. He remembered when he first began carrying a sketchbook everywhere. James gifted it to him on his 13th birthday and told him, “Stop drawing on your arms.” Although, he wasn’t sure why he carried it everywhere. Maybe it was for when there was a moment he desperately wanted to remember, like right now. 

He began to sketch Remus reading. 

He drew the outline of his figure, then the details which formed him into an actual being rather than a random shape, focusing on his face. Then he began to shade his features. He failed to notice that Remus hadn’t turned a page for 10 minutes and was blushing a faint red as he noticed Sirius examining his face, trying to figure out whether he’d shaded his hair too dark. 

It was only when Remus placed down his book that Sirius stopped working on his sketch. It wasn’t exactly a Leonardo Da Vinci and it’s didn’t have the style of a Picasso, but it did resemble Remus and it helped to pass the time. 

“Do you sketch often?” Remus asked, refusing to look at Sirius, with a blush attempting to be seen on his cheeks. 

Sirius grinned, “Of course, I study art so, I don’t have much of a choice.”  
“Can I see?” asked Remus, gesturing to his sketchbook.

Sirius hesitated for a moment.

“You don’t have to!” he quickly added, seeing the hesitation, “I’d understand, art’s very personal.”

“It’s not that,” Sirius waved his hand dismissively. He had never been too fussed about privacy when it came to his drawings. However, he never knew whether or not the person he was about to open up to would ridicule or mock him. Not that he thought Remus would do either of those things, but he was always sceptical. 

He passed Remus the book. 

Watching Remus flick through the pages, he tapped his foot on the ground in time to the song that was playing. He was too anxious to remember the name of it.  
“Holy shit, these are amazing,” he said quietly, in complete awe. It was now Sirius’ turn to go pink. 

Remus stopped at one particular drawing. A drawing of a young boy in his early teens, throwing his head back in laughter. It was somewhat blurry, as if Sirius trying to get a memory onto paper before he could forget it. Sirius had drawn it as he sat by the Thames one evening when he suddenly couldn’t remember the sound of the young boy’s laughter and felt panic stricken. He had forgotten he had drawn it.

It was Regulus.

“Who’s this?” Remus asked. It was by far the most emotional drawing in that sketchbook; Sirius couldn’t help it. It was one of the few good memories he had of Regulus. 

“That’s my – er, my brother,” said Sirius, hoping Remus wouldn’t ask him anymore about it. 

Realisation dawned on Remus’ face and he handed the book back to Sirius. “I get it, not something to talk to a stranger about,” he said with a sad smile, lifting a hand to his scar. 

Sirius gave a dry laugh, “it’s not an uplifting story.”

“Not a lot are,” Remus replied, tilting his head with a soft smile. He sighed, “mine’s not a pretty story.” He gestured to his face. 

They sat in silence as they both contemplated their respective pasts. That was until Sirius clapped his hands together. “Right!” he exclaimed, making Remus practically jump 10 feet in the air and almost fall of his chair. 

“The fuck Sirius?” Remus asked as Sirius grinned at him. 

He stood up, “We’re not going to mope about and feel sorry for ourselves,” the song changed once more, and Sirius got an idea. He held out his hand to Remus, “How about we dance instead?” 

Remus quirked an eyebrow, “can you actually dance?” he smirked, folding his arms as he leaned back into his chair. 

Sirius shook his head and let out an exasperated breath, “do you want to dance or not?” he asked. 

Remus shrugged with a smile and took his hand. “Just don’t step on my feet.”

“Why I never!” Sirius exclaimed, making Remus chuckle. 

They twirled around each other, under the glow of the orange lights. The two of them giggling as they both almost tripped over each other. Neither of them knew how to dance. They started an arm’s length apart, both too unsure about the other to go a step closer. However, as soon as they began to step on each other’s feet, they drifted closer and closer with each passing second, as if being closer to each other would make them better dancers – it didn’t. 

“I guess you can check dancing with a stranger in you own garden off your bucket list.” Remus chuckled. 

Sirius laughed, “with a handsome stranger,” he added, making Remus blush. 

“You can’t include yourself as the stranger, Sirius,” he said, looking Sirius in the eye. Sirius bit back a laugh. 

“How do you know me so well after one conversation?” he asked with a mischievous grin, leaning up to Remus’ face until they were inches apart. 

Remus rolled his eyes and ‘accidentally’ stepped on Sirius’ feet, “oops,” he smirked as Sirius looked at him with mock horror. 

“Git,” he muttered making Remus chuckle, but the smile on his face said otherwise. They rocked from side to side as the song was coming to a close, their faces getting closer and closer…

Until the song changed and the sudden switch in volume made Sirius jump back. 

Looking around awkwardly, Remus asked, “so how long have you known James?” Both of them now had sore feet and were sat back in their seats.

Sirius didn’t even have to think for a response, “Since the first day of secondary.” Suddenly, he began to laugh, “he punched me when we first met, almost instantly after I began to speak.”

Remus raised his eyebrow again, “I’m guessing you deserved it?”

“I deserved a lot more than a punch.” He chuckled. “I was an arrogant prick and James did not hesitate in letting me know.”

“I defiantly hesitated.” Remus smiled as Sirius gave him a playful glare.  
“His reaction confused me. I was home schooled by my parents until we met, surrounded by their shitty ideals. So I asked him, why did you punch me? and he explained, as best as 11 year olds can. I felt awful. 

“For whatever reason, James stuck around and helped me unlearn what my parents had taught me. I really wanted to unlearn it.” Sirius paused, realising he hadn’t stopped talking. 

“But your brother?” Remus asked, suddenly putting the pieces together.

“Yeah,” Sirius sighed. “But it’s in the past. James is my brother now, he’s more like family than my actual family.” He laughed awkwardly, “wow, that’s depressing, I apologise.” Remus placed his hand over Sirius’ and shrugged. 

“We can always blame it on the alcohol,” he said, his hazel eyes full of warmth. 

The smile that Remus gave to Sirius was also warm, and for some reason, Sirius didn’t mind that he’d just given a brief run down of his past, something he never told anyone. 

“I know I’m going to blame the alcohol I for this,” Remus said, leaning back in his chair, grabbing for his book to flick through the pages. “I’ve had this,” he pointed to the pale lines cross his face, “this scar since I was 4.”

Shock spread across Sirius’ face. “You don’t have to – “

“It’s ok, a story for a story.” Remus shrugged, trying to act nonchalant but clearly nerve racked about sharing his story. “I – I was attacked for something my dad did. They wanted payback or maybe, maybe they wanted to kill me but failed? Who knows,” he reached up and carefully traced his scar. “But now I have an ugly permanent reminder of it on my face.”

"I don’t think it’s ugly.” Sirius said before he could stop himself. “I mean, the reason behind its existence is, don’t get me wrong, but you’re still beautiful,” Remus had now turned bright red and was opening and closing his mouth for a reply, “and the scar is kinda badass if I’m honest.”

“You think I’m beautiful?” he asked in disbelief. 

“Well, yes.” Sirius replied as if it was obvious. “You’re extremely handsome.”

Remus almost looked pained by the statement. “That’s very kind of you, but I’m not –“

Sirius interrupted Remus by grabbing his hand, “You are, and don’t let you tell yourself anything else.” His eyes were strong and determined to not let Remus think bad of himself. 

“I – OK.” He said quietly, still shocked by Sirius’ words but charmed by the fact that he was so concerned. 

“Good,” said Sirius with a firm nod. “Now, obviously you’ll never meet anyone as handsome as me,” Remus groaned at the comment, but Sirius knew he was amused. He was smiling, “but you should always view yourself as the next most beautiful.”

“I rather like my self-loathing,” Remus said quietly, watching the horror unfold on Sirius’ face with an amused glance. 

“Remus no!” Sirius exclaimed, his eyes wide. 

The other boy laughed and managed to say, “I’m kidding, it’s called sarcasm.”

“Ah,” Sirius replied, rubbing the back of his neck with a small smile. 

“It’s cute that you’re worried though,” Remus grinned as Sirius smirked at the brunet. 

“Think I’m cute, do you?” he said, wiggling his eyebrows and leaning on the table, his smirk growing as Remus tried to ignore the blush creeping up the back of his neck.

“In the same way as a puppy.” Remus refused to look at Sirius, despite Sirius grinning like the Cheshire cat. “Suits your name actually,” said Remus, clearly wanting to change the topic of conversation. 

“Sirius, the dog star, part of Canis Major, the big dog” he recited for the millionth time in his life. “And the star is just as cute as I am,” Sirius said, making Remus roll his eyes and groan.

“You aren’t going to shut up about that are you?” Remus asked, trying to sound defeated but his amusement came through as a smile tugged at the corner of his lips. 

“Nope.” Sirius’ grin somehow seemed to get bigger. 

Remus sighed, “I’m awful at remembering where to find stars in the sky though.” 

“It should be visible actually,” Sirius said, glancing up at the sky, trying to find it. “There!” he yelled suddenly, once again making Remus jump 10 feet in the air. 

“You need to stop yelling,” Remus muttered under his breath as he looked where Sirius was pointing, earning another playful glare. “Where exactly are you pointing?”

Sirius sighed, sounding exasperated and stood behind Remus’ chair and leaned over his shoulder, making the brunet blush, although Sirius didn’t notice this. He pointed up into the sky at Canis Major. “You see those three stars there that make a triangle?” his voice was quiet and soft, “And then off to the right slightly there’s a really bright star with a blueish hue? That there is the star they named after me.” 

Remus leaned away slightly and turned to look at Sirius with his eyebrows raised. “I’m pretty sure you were named after the star Sirius.”

“That’s what they want you to think.” Sirius said as he sat back in his own chair, as if it was the biggest conspiracy of the age.

As soon as Remus’ melodic laughter reached Sirius’ ears, he felt his heart flutter. He wanted to make this boy laugh forever, just so he could continue to hear his laughter.  
“Tell that to NASA,” Remus retorted. By this point, Sirius was surprised that Remus’ eyes weren’t tired from the amount of times he had rolled them. 

“I’ll write them a strongly worded letter on the subject if I have to.” 

“Strongly worded letter?” Remus repeated, unsure whether to be amused or concerned. 

“Perhaps a mildly worded poem.” Sirius shrugged as he spoke, making Remus bite back his laughter and fail miserably. 

“I’d love to hear that poem,” chuckled Remus, smiling at Sirius who grinned. 

“I would definitely get the pretty literature student to prove read my poem to NASA about how Sirius was named after me, not the other way around.” 

They burst into laughter, not even trying to contain it this time. 

“That is definitely something I was not expecting to hear tonight,” Remus grinned.

“I knew it would,” Sirius shrugged with a smile as Remus looked at him pointedly. “OK, so I didn’t but I have had stranger conversations.” 

“I really don’t doubt that.” A small smile tugged at Remus’ mouth. 

The door burst open again and the two boys, who had suddenly realised how close they had gotten, jumped apart. A girl with bright red hair that was pulled up out of her face in a ponytail, ran down the steps that led to the garden. 

“Remus, put your book down, I’m about to tell you something impor – “ she froze, seeing Remus and Sirius mid conversation, “ – tant… Did you make a friend?” She exclaimed excitedly, jumping up and down. 

“Evans, you say that like I have no friends,” Remus grumbled, scrunching his nose. Sirius thought it was adorable. 

“Well Lupin, as one of your few friends, I feel obliged to tell you how extremely happy I am that you actually spoke to someone! A living human being!” she sounded as though the idea was preposterous, which made Sirius laugh but he quickly masked it with a cough as he noticed Remus glare at him. 

“In all fairness, I didn’t give him much of a choice,” Sirius added. “I’m surprised he didn’t throw his book at me.” 

“Don’t tempt me,” Remus joked. 

“Have you not injured me enough? I’m certain my feet are bruised.” Sirius complained with a sly grin. 

“My feet are definitely more bruised, I only tripped over myself, you stepped on my feet.” Leaning forwards on his elbow, he smiled as Sirius gasped. 

“How dare you make such accusations!” 

They both burst into giggles as Lily stood there, her face switching between confusion and amusement. 

“So, what’s so important?” Remus asked, turning to face Lily who suddenly remembered why she entered the garden. 

“You’ll never guess what the insufferable prat said to me, ‘Your eyes shine like emeralds, and I could stare into them all day,’” she mimicked, making Sirius snicker. “And then he has the audacity to ask me on a date next Friday,” she scoffed. “Naturally, I wanted to punch his pretty face.”

As Remus sighed, he made eye contact with Sirius who was definitely taking blackmail notes for later use. “So, what did you tell him?”

“I told him that it’s absolutely absurd that he would ask me out for a date on Friday,” Sirius sighed, knowing James would complain about another rejection later. However, Remus gestured for him to wait a moment, “I told him we could go for one on Friday.”

“You said yes?” Sirius exclaimed, much to the amusement of Remus as Lily looked confused as to why this was an important detail. 

“This is Sirius, James’ best friend,” Remus explained, grinning mischievously as Lily looked at him with murder in her eyes. 

“Remus! John! Lupin!” she yelled at him, whacking his shoulder with each word. “Oh, god this is embarrassing.” She groaned as Remus laughed at her misfortune.

“Don’t worry, I won’t tell him. He’s probably still not functioning from the fact you actually said yes.” Sirius said, still trying to process it himself. 

“I told you, she’s smitten with him.” Remus spoke as if he was tired of the situation. 

“Remus!” she exclaimed again, whacking his arm. 

“Ow! Lily you’re going to give me a bruise.” Remus complained. 

Lily just glared at him, “I think it’s definitely deserved.”

“I’m only saying what I can see Lily.”

Lily grinned, seeming as though she just thought of an idea, “how about I say what I can see?”

All amusement went from Remus’ face and his head snapped in her direction, a red blush flooding onto his face, “you wouldn’t.” 

Sirius was curious to see where this would go.

Lily looked at Remus with a sly grin as they appeared to have a silent conversation, “anyone could see that you are infatuated by –“

“And that’s enough for today, it was nice to see you, hope you get home safe, goodbye Lily” Remus said rapidly, his face turning a darker shade of red as he ushered Lily to the double doors whilst she laughed. 

“If it’s that you’re infatuated by me, I’ve guessed that already,” Sirius told Remus, making Lily laugh even harder. 

“I will fucking kill you both in a moment,” Remus threatened, but neither of them could take him seriously. 

“You Lupin, couldn’t hurt a fly,” Lily said smugly as she was pushed to the door, making Sirius chuckle. 

Before she left though, she pulled Remus down to her height and whispered something in his hear that Sirius couldn’t hear, making him turn bright red and bury his face in his hands. Sirius couldn’t hear what they were saying but he could tell that Remus was trying his hardest to get Lily to leave so she would stop embarrassing him. He thought he looked even cuter when he was flustered.

Sirius shook that thought from his mind. 

As Remus slowly made his way back to the table, sulking, Sirius smirked, “I like her,” he said candidly. 

Remus shot him a glare, “I’m mad at you too you know.” 

“What?” Sirius asked with added flare, knowing exactly why Remus was sulking, amused. “Why on Earth would you be mad at me?”

“Don’t play dumb, you know why,” Remus tried to look annoyed at Sirius, but Sirius could see the small smile tugging at his lips. 

“I’m not playing dumb, I am dumb so, do tell.” Sirius’ smirk grew as Remus’ tried not to laugh. 

“Don’t make me say it,” Remus groaned, resting his hand on the table.

Leaning towards Remus, Sirius grinned and said, “say what?”

“You’re handsome, alright? And I wish the ground would open up and swallow me because I cannot believe I just said that out loud,” Remus blurted out, his face getting a darker shade of red with each word. 

Sirius grinned, “you’re right, I am extremely handsome.”

Sighing once again, Remus muttered, “of course you’d say that.” Sirius would have thought Remus was angry at him but the smirk on Remus’ own face told him otherwise. 

Deciding to make Remus a little less embarrassed, Sirius asked, “so how long have you and Lily been friends?”

“I think I was about 15?” Remus said, unsure. “And she was always there for me, always kind. That and she wouldn’t let anyone say shit about me, that was new.” Remus smiled at the memories of his friend and Sirius smiled with him. 

James came bursting out through the doors again, as Sirius was suspecting would happen, but was surprised it took him this long. “Oi Black! Stop flirting for a sec and listen to this,” he said as he approached. Remus blushed. 

“If this is about Lily we know,” Sirius sighed, turning to grin at his friend. 

“I – what? How?” James spluttered, confused. 

Sirius gestured to Remus, “Lily’s friend,” he said. Remus waved at James who grinned and stuck out his hand. 

“Well then, James Potter, nice to meet you.” He said, his smile genuine. 

Remus took James’ hand and shook it, “Remus Lupin.”

“So,” James began. “Does she talk about me at all? Talk about my brilliance?” he asked cockily. 

Remus wavered his hand and said, “More like your arrogance and how you’re an insufferable twit.” 

James gasped, “Remus!” He looked at Sirius. “Are you going to stick up for your best mate?” 

Sirius shrugged, “He’s not lying, I heard it too. Also, she’s got a poi – hey!” He exclaimed with a smile as James started to mess with his hair, “not the hair James, come on!” 

“Well, it’s what you get for being a disloyal bastard,” James grinned as Sirius whacked him round the back of the head. Remus was amused by the interaction.  
Sirius pointed his finger at James. “Never touch the hair Potter.” 

“Stick up for your best mate, Black.” James retaliated, pointing his finger at Sirius.  
Sirius knew that it could sound like they were fighting with each other but with one look at the grins on their faces, everyone would know that it was friendly. 

“So did you bribe her?” Sirius asked, causing polar opposite reacting from the other two boys; Remus smirked, somewhat wanting to ask the same question, whilst James looked offended. 

“I didn’t want to ask but…” said Remus, grinning. 

“Surely my good lucks and charm should have been enough?” James said, trying to prove that that was all it took. 

“Absolutely not,” said Remus.

“Not a chance,” Sirius said at the same time. 

“Ouch,” James said. “Thanks for the vote of confidence.”

“From what she’s told me, you aren’t exactly a top-notch Casanova,” Remus chuckled.

“That would be me,” Sirius grinned, winking at Remus who flushed a light pink. 

James rolled his eyes, a sly grin appearing on his face, “Sirius, remember year 10?” James knew this was a memory Sirius would rather forget. 

“We agreed to never mention year 10 ever again,” Sirius said, sounding slightly murderous. 

On the other hand, Remus looked intrigued, “year 10?”

Sirius glared at James before he could speak, “not a word Potter.”

James just grinned mischievously, “in year 10, there was this guy…” James began.  
Sirius groaned, “don’t you dare,” he threatened, making Remus only more and more intrigued. 

“And Sirius, being the Casanova he apparently is, could not get a single word out around him. He went completely tongue tied.”

“Really smooth,” Remus nodded with a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth as Sirius buried his head in his hands in shame. 

“Then, when the other guy asked him out, he panicked and instead of saying yes, he said I do,” James chuckled as Sirius groaned, hitting his head on the table. 

Remus bit back his laughter, trying not to insult Sirius but even Sirius knew that, in hindsight, it was quite funny. “Aw,” he cooed. “Has your tough guy image been ruined?” 

“It had Remus; it has.” Sirius sighed. Remus patted his shoulder, chuckling. 

“I hate to break it to you, but you didn’t have much of a bad guy image before.” Remus smirked as Sirius gasped. 

“How dare you, I have a leather jacket and a motorbike.”

“Sirius, Remus is right, you are a big softie.” James joined in, amused. 

“Who’s the disloyal bastard now?” Sirius grumbled. 

The other two laughed at Sirius who was now sulking over not being as much of a badass as he thought. 

“Well, I’m going to leave you two lovebirds be now,” James said as he stood up from the table. 

“We’re not-“

“I said what I said,” he shrugged with a knowing smile at Remus who looked like a deer caught in headlights. “Oh, by the way, I think Lily already left.” James said as he walked away from the two. 

Once James left, they sat in silence. Not that they were unsure of what to say, but they were both embarrassed by James’ words. They’d both become quite intrigued by the other and there was a melancholy feeling that filled the both of them as they realised, they would have to part ways soon. 

Remus grabbed Sirius’ sketchbook that was still on the table and a pen from his pocket. He ignored the bemused stare he was getting from Sirius and turned to the sketch of him he knew Sirius had done. 

Sirius watched Remus scribble something down in his sketchbook, curious as to what it could be. When Remus gave it back, he flipped through the pages until he saw a note written in pen, ‘It only seems fair, 01*** ******’. 

“It’s the number for the telephone at the apartment I rent with Lily,” Remus said, shrinking shyly as he spoke. “Since I know where you live, it only seems fair.”

“I can call you; you can stalk me.” Sirius nodded whilst Remus looked horrified. 

“I’m not going to stalk you!”

“I mean, I wouldn’t blame you,” Sirius said as Remus playfully shoved his shoulder. “I’ll call you, wouldn’t want you to go too long without my pleasant company.”

“I think I’ll live,” Remus laughed, standing up. “I should get going, Lily will murder me if I’m not back soon.”

Sirius stood up too, prepare to lead Remus to the door, “wouldn’t want that, then who would I tease.” 

Remus rolled his eyes, “I’m sure you’d find someone.”

“But they wouldn’t be you,” Sirius pointed out, smiling as Remus laughed again. 

As they walked through the house, Sirius noticed there was no one around and began to wonder if James had already kicked everyone out when he visited them for the second time in the garden. It did seem out of character for James to step away from the party if it was still going. 

Once they reached the front door, Sirius suddenly realised Remus didn’t have a coat. He sighed and smiled, ‘of course he didn’t bring anything warmer than the jumper he was wearing. So, as any decent human being would do, he took off his leather jacket and held it in front of him. 

Remus raised his eyebrow at him, questioningly. 

“You’ll freeze to death,” Sirius said, raising his eyebrows, as if daring Remus to deny the jacket. 

“It won’t fit me Sirius.”

“Sure it will,” said Sirius, his arm not wavering. “It’s big on me so I’m sure it will be fine. Besides, it’s incentive for you to revisit,” he grinned. 

Remus rolled his eyes and shook his head, smiling. He took the jacket, much to Sirius’ delight and it fit perfectly. 

“How is this even possible? I’m like, a foot taller than you,” Remus muttered in disbelief. 

Sirius shrugged, “as I said, it’s big in me.” 

Remus stood on the doorstep for a minute. Sirius was confused as to why until he turned around. “Thanks for the conversation. I had fun and well, I was expecting this to be dreadfully dull.”

“And I made it fun?” Sirius finished and Remus chuckled. 

“You made it less dull, I’ll give you that.”

“Prat,” Sirius muttered with a small smile as Remus grinned. 

“Well, thank you,” he beamed. 

Before Sirius could talk himself out of it, he stood up on the tips of his toes and pecked Remus on the cheek, “I had fun too,” he said softly. 

Remus’ face was extremely red, and he looked shocked, but grinned sheepishly.  
“I expect to hear from you soon Mr Lupin!” Sirius called from the door as Remus walked down the drive. 

“You will Mr Black!” Remus called back, looking much more badass in Sirius’ leather jacket than Sirius ever could, and he knew that. 

Sirius’ face ached from smiling but he couldn’t help letting another grin form as he closed the door. He danced slowly into the living room, swaying and giddy. 

“Where’s your jacket?” he heard James ask as he entered the room.

Sirius sighed again, flopping down onto the sofa, “I think I’m in love.”

“Yeah, sure Pads, tell me something I don’t know,” James said, raising an eyebrow. “Like where your jacket is, you never take that thing off.” 

“Don’t mock me Prongs, I’m serious,” he chuckled at his accidental pun. 

James rolled his eyes, both at the pun and Sirius’ behaviour, “You’re smitten alright, but not in love.”

“Yet,” Sirius added with a grin. “He’s amazing.”

“Don’t doubt it,” James smiled at his friend, amused because Sirius always complained that he spoke too much about Lily and now he was on the receiving end, he could use that against Sirius. 

“I’m going to ask him on a date.” Sirius said.

James sat up at this, “are you sure? I know I joked about it but, are you sure he’s you know, into guys?”

“He was definitely into me,” Sirius smirked. “And don’t worry about it, it’s 1978, there’s no better time to be gay!” Sirius exclaimed, thinking about all that the activists had managed to achieve. 

“I know, I know but, you heard what happened the other week, those guys were beaten to near death and they were just holding hands,” James fretted, making Sirius sit up and look at his friend. 

“You know how careful I am with this, try not to worry about it OK? Plus, I could totally take on a homophobe in a fight,” he joked, raising his fists. 

“Don’t joke Sirius, it only happened around the corner, they were in the same lectures as me.” James said, genuinely concerned about his friend. 

James had taken a while to accept Sirius’ sexuality and it had been the only thing that happened to ever almost destroy their friendship. It was difficult for Sirius to come to terms with his sexuality, but when he came out, James completely shut himself off from Sirius. That was until Sirius had, had enough of James bullshit and called him out for it and James realised how much pain he had caused his brother. It was then that he vowed to never judge someone on their sexuality. It had also made him very paranoid of Sirius getting attacked because if his reaction, as Sirius’ closest friend, had been to avoid him and treat him different, how would strangers react? 

“James, I promise you, I’ll be careful alright?” said Sirius with a sincere smile. 

“I know, I know,” said James. “I just don’t want to have to bury my best mate.”

“It’s ok, you won’t,” Sirius assured. “And I know you mean well but, it’s 1978! Ten years ago, I’d have been thrown in jail for who I am, but now I can go on dates you know? And some people are shitty but damn if I’ll let them keep me quiet.”

James nodded, “so where you gonna take him?” James asked, just as excited as Sirius was. 

Sirius shrugged with a yawn, “where are you planning to take Lily?” he retaliated with a smirk, knowing James had this already planned out.

“Firstly, I’m going to take her to that café on Willow Avenue, you know, the one with amazing treacle tart, and then – “ James continued on whilst Sirius nodded along, drifting to sleep. He wasn’t paying attention to what James was saying, he had heard it all before, instead he was imaging where he’d take Remus if he said yes to a date.


End file.
